Advice on quitting

Ladies!!

I have decided (finally) that it is time for me to quit smoking. I have a couple of friends that are quitting with me. I did pretty good the first day...made it almost 36 hours without one...then last night, when I found out my "quitting partners" both had one, I decided that I deserved to have one too!! Now, I have to start all over!!

I should also add that I cannot take anything to help with quitting. I am already on Wellbutrin and that is supposed to help, but doesn't do it all! Whatever the ingredient is that is in Wellbutrin prevents me from using other products out there to help me quit.

I have a question for those who have been successful in quitting...is it better to quit cold turkey, or to cut back to just a few a day until you just stop? I need help with this. It is so hard!! Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks, sister!!
And congrats to those who have quit and good luck to those who are still trying!!

to you all!!

I have tried to quit many times. I have used patches, gum, Zyban (Wellbutrin), and Chiantix along with some herbal stuff. This last time I quit cold turkey.

The longest I ever went was 3 years and that was a Zyban quit. Chiantix I have made it about 8 months. Cold Turkey I've made it 1 year and another one was 6 months. This cold turkey quit has lasted nearly 4 months and still going good.

Cutting back has never been helpful for me. A bunch of us actually tried it last year. Out of 4 of us trying that method only one was very successful at quitting and he started again a couple months later.

What has been working for me is to remember that I am an addict, just like a heroin addict. You would never tell a heroin addict to go and get high just once in a while, neither can you smoke just once in a while. I also remember that smoking didn't make my stress or problems go away (just like a drug addict who thinks that more drugs will make the problems go away).

Kind of a harsh analysis but it has worked for me. It is a little harder to quit without all kinds of aids but the suffering seems to remind me not to even take one drag. It does get better. If you can make one week your body has flushed the nicotine out and your cravings are mental.

Good luck and keep trying. Most people have to try multiple times before they are successful.

That makes a lot of sense...not harsh at all. Thanks for the encouragement. I will do my best!!

I think it's better to quit cold turkey. Quitting smoking is a difficult thing to do. I've been a non-smoker for more than 17 years now (smoked for 26 years). Before you will be able to quit, you have to *want* to quit....not because anyone told you you should, but because you genuinely want to do it. I did it through group hypnosis and here are some hints we were given.

If you are a coffee drinker, switch to decaf coffee. Don't do it all at once or you'll have caffeine withdrawal headaches, but gradually add decaf to your coffee when you brew it. You can also ask for 1/2 reg. and 1/2 decaf if you buy your coffee at a coffee shop.

Drink lots and lots of water.

DON'T take a drag on a cigarette EVER......not even 10 years from now. You'll end up smoking again. It's like an alcoholic who can't take a drink or will end up drinking again.

Drink more water.

If you think about a cigarette, immediately do something else. Pick up a newspaper, magazine or book, or turn on the TV. Anything to distract yourself.

We were shown pictures of the lungs of smokers. When you want a cigarette, picture in your mind what your lungs look like. Then picture them nice and pink as they will be after not smoking for ten years.

One thing that helped me was cutting a straw so that it was about the size of a cigarette. I would hold it between my fingers in the car when I was driving, and when I talked on the phone. I kept one in my pocket too, so that I could hold it and no one would see it.

It only takes a few weeks to rid yourself of the physical addiction. The psychological addiction takes longer.

By the third week I had no more "morning smoker's cough".

You will notice that your hair and your clothes smell so much better. Your house will smell better too. Did you ever look at the paper towels you washed your windows with? The color from the nicotine is on your windows and walls. The smell has probably gotten deep into your sofa and curtains. That will all disappear. Your food will taste better too.

I rarely get a cold now. I would get a cold at least 6 times a year and it would last for a long time. Now if I get a cold, it lasts only a few days, and I get no more than 1 or 2 a year.

I will be honest and say that there were times when I felt like having a cigarette, even several years after quitting. But I was able to push that thought right out of my mind and I didn't dwell on it.

Remember this: If you do slide backwards and have a cigarette, don't think of yourself as a failure. Make up your mind that you WILL lick this addiction. It will be one of the most difficult things you've ever had to do, but you can do it.

Thanks Catherine!!

It is hard!! I have a feeling that I am just not ready though. The main reason for quitting is that a dear friend of mine was diagnosed with COPD and she is MY AGE (31)!!! I guess I am more trying to quit for her than for myself...maybe that is why it isn't working.

I do look forward to my clothes smelling better. I hate when I walk into my office and my coat reeks like smoke. I have never smoked in my house, so thankfully I don't have to worry about that there.

I will get this kicked...hopefully sooner than later!! It is just such a nasty habit that I wish I had never picked up!

Thanks for the support though. It means a LOT!!

Hi Traci, I quit smoking in the 90's and haven't had one since.

It started with me closing the window of smoking opportunity. First it was no smoking before breakfast. Then before lunch. And so on. Pretty soon the window was very small: after 8pm and before midnight. Then I went to Barcelona on a business trip. A smoking city with 300 additional smoking hairdressers, me being one of them. I took advantage of every minute of my smoking window for that week. Yeah baby!

Then I got sick on the flight home. And even sicker. Just the thought of a cigarette once I was back on US soil made me sick, but I was still tempted. So I started counting the days- "1 day without a cigarette, light up now and it will be 0". Early on it wasn't much of an incentive, but when I got to "30 days without a cigarette, light up now and it will be 0" it became my mantra. I kept the count by day going until about 6 months, then I changed it to months. Then years. If I was tempted I had to repeat my mantra "1year & 1 month without a cigarette...". I think I did that the first few years and I am pleased to share that I haven't had one since.

I also gave up alcohol for the most part, as my self-imposed smoking window had become an incentive for a smoke in one hand and a drink in the other (as it did on my trip to Spain, lol). And took up sugar-free gum. I am the queen of gum, ask me about a new brand and I can tell you about it.

And I will admit, I still have that last pack of cigarettes. Can't seem to part with them. But I also have sanitary supplies, and sister you know I won't be needing those.

Good luck to you. Close your window. Start that count. You can do it!

Thank you so much!! That is so inspiring, ShatziLKF!! Thank you for sharing your story...

I know what you mean about the sanitary supplies...I still have some too. Pretty sure I will always hang on to them!

I do think of the health consequences of smoking. I'm diabetic and statistically, smokers who are diabetic are almost the only ones with amputations in their 60s or so. I spent a lot of time at a senior home and there were several people there in wheelchairs out front smoking. I don't want to be one of them.

COPD is life altering. I have known a lot of people with it. Picture yourself dragging an oxy tank around with you. In your early 30s you probably have a lot of friends who are pretty active. imagine not being able to keep up with them because you are wheezing so much. I have an uncle who is 95. When I smoked I couldn't keep up with him. We would be walking around his hilly property and he would be telling stories. There I'd be, wheezing along beside him.

These are some of the things that keep me from smoking. Everyone around me smokes. All of my friends smoke, my husband smokes. The thought of starting over keeps me from smoking along with these images of being sick in 10 or 20 years.

Persistence does pay off. When you are determined you will be able to fight off the cravings.

It's good to know that we're not alone. I have not had a cigarette in two weeks (the day of my surgery). I have smoked off and on for the past 28 years, I'm 43. I am excited about quitting. The hardest part for me will be when I go back to work.
Hugs and prayers to all.

It's been five weeks for me--none since the day of my surgery. Smoked about 15 years. This is my second attempt to quit. I am really liking your posts about what worked for you. They're good hints!

My motivation is being challenged right now. I was planning on quitting, and this was my reason for the first attempt, because my DH and I wanted to have kids and I didn't want to be smoking while pregnant. So, obviously that can't exactly be my motivation now! We are going to move on to adoption/fostering options, plus I have a stepson, so I can still use kids as a motivation...but they're a bit separated from me now.

All I can say is, keep up the stories and hints. I really appreciate them and, like SheNayNay, it's good to know I'm not alone!